Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Bought by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 122.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 14,125 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Orion were worth $456,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of Orion by 129.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 25,321 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 14,286 shares during the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC raised its position in Orion by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Tower Group LLC now owns 114,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 27,519 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 16.0% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 45,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 6,268 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Orion by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 875,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,589,000 after acquiring an additional 34,183 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,620,000. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Price Performance

NYSE:OEC opened at $17.60 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50-day moving average is $17.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.23. Orion S.A. has a 12-month low of $14.94 and a 12-month high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.06). Orion had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 1.67%. The business had revenue of $463.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $489.01 million. Research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.021 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Orion’s payout ratio is 15.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Orion from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th.

About Orion

Orion SA, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of carbon black products. It operates in two segments, Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The company offers post-treated specialty carbon black grades for coatings and printing applications; high purity carbon black grades for the fiber industry; and conductive carbon black grades for batteries, polymers, and coatings.